Can I Buy Ejido Property? What is an Ejido?

The ejido is a Mexican concept not well understood by foreigners. What is an
ejido, exactly? The word, pronounced ay-hee-do, is thought to be derived from
the Latin exitus, meaning "the way out." Presumably ejidos got their
name from being located at the outskirts of towns and cities, and they were,
and some still are, small Mexican villages. The ejido is defined as a community
that has joint ownership of a piece of land, lives on the land, and practices
joint agriculture on it. While this was the original intention, and was once an
accurate description of ejido activity, more and more ejidos today exist as
land where no one lives and no agriculture takes place.

The ejido was a concept practiced by the Aztecs. It has had a long and rocky
history. When the Spaniards conquered Mexico, it was abandoned; it came back in
again when the church was given the authority to hold lands in trust for the
peasants. It went out again when the church lost favor, and church lands. When
the present Mexican constitution was adopted in 1917 resulting from the 10-year
long Mexican Revolution, the ejido was revived. Large tracts of land were taken
from wealthy landowners and divided up into ejidos for the peasants. Members of
an ejido, called ejidatarios, could farm the land, live on it, enjoy it, pass
it to their children, rent parts of it to third parties, but they could never
own it or sell it. The mindset of the authorities, from the Aztecs on, seemed
to be that peasants were like children, not intelligent enough to manage their
own affairs, and so they must be protected by a kind of benevolent (or
not-so-benevolent) despotism on the part of the emperor, the church, or the
government.

And so, yes, the ejido is a way of owning property in Mexico, but this
statement must be read with a realization that "ownership" may not
mean the same thing to an ejidatario as it does to your average gringo. To an
American, ownership means having what is known in real estate circles as "the
bundle of rights": possession, enjoyment, control, exclusion, and
disposition. When we own a property, we can possess it, enjoy it, control it,
exclude anyone we don't want from it, and dispose of it by selling it, giving
it, exchanging it, or willing it to our heirs. To a Mexican, ownership appears
to be largely a matter of possession.

This difference in cultural background and assumptions often causes
misunderstanding when a foreign investor finds a choice piece of property that
is ejido land and wants to buy it. The ejidatarios may tell the investor that
they have ownership of the property, and of course they do, but not the same
kind of ownership the investor is assuming.

Trying to buy ejidal property can be a risky
investment if the investor is uninformed as to the legal pitfalls or unwilling
to follow the prescribed procedure.

There is a way to get legal title to ejido property. In 1992 the Mexican
government established a policy for regularizing ejido land called PROCEDE.
PROgrama para CEsion de Derechos Ejidales (Program for cession of ejidal
rights). Through this program, ejidatarios can convert their property to
private property, which can then be sold.

There are three types of ejidal property: lands for community development,
lands for common use, and individual parcels. The lands for community
development cannot be sold or privatized. Lands for common use can be converted
into what are called solares, individually owned parcels, which can be
privatized and then sold. The individual parcels can also be privatized and
sold. This procedure requires a vote of the entire ejido.. There must be a vote
of 2/3 of those present to pass the resolution to privatize the land.
Investors should be aware of the complexities and avoid common pitfalls by
using due diligence.

Recommendations:Don't pay out large sums of money without receiving a receipt, contract, or
agreement that states exactly what the money is to be used for and what is
expected from each party.

Try to get as much documentation as possible for the property you are
considering. Maps with dimensions and areas are very helpful.If you are considering buying ejido land, work with a real estate
agent who is knowledgeable about the process. Don't try to
negotiate a deal yourself.